A past better kept forgotten
by VVluvspuugs
Summary: Vincent is faced with a hard choice, tell the one he loves the truth about their past together and the pain they suffered, or keep himself, and his love for her hidden...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

In the beginning,

This was never supposed to have happened. It was never even thought of as a something even remotely possible. But sure enough it had. He berated himself for not having thought of this unfortunate possibility. He was the force behind Shin-Ra's amazing rise to power, he alone was responsible for the billions of gill generated from the Mako, so why , when all his other projects had been so very carefully researched, taking every possibility into consideration, had he not even thought of this event? Sure he never expected to fall in love, Gods knew he had no time in his life for anything, save his research, but it had happened. So unexpectedly, but something he could not fight, not when he finally felt like a man, how delicious it felt, that feeling inside him. Nothing had ever made him feel that way, not even the Mako. After his first taste of love he realized that the Mako was just something he used to try to make him feel whole, only after her did he realize that it didn't even come close.

Three years ago, when the project had first began, He first noticed the enhancing ability the Mako seemed to have on life forms. It wasn't to long afterwards that he took the first injection. It was something that he had to do, he needed to see the effects first hand.. of course, he told no one. Oh how it felt, first as the green fluid

entered his vein it stung like fire, he could feel the acid burning through his body. He screamed with the agony of it. But after the first few minutes he subdued into bliss. He felt like he could do anything. All the little pains in his body that he'd grown so used too disappeared , He felt like never before in his life. He knows now that he was no better than the worst junkie, but at that time he believed he'd stumbled on something truly miraculous.

Time went on, and so did his experimentation. By now he needed the Mako, without it he was in pain, more often he injected it. The rest of his legitimate experiments using the Mako for energy were a complete success, more than anyone could have ever dreamed. But he knew first hand the negative effects of trying to use the toxic fluid for enhancing genetics. He realized that it was killing him, hair would fall out in clumps, his body developed a painful rash, constant coughing fits would plague him where he would spit up a sickly green phlegm, a possible mix of the Mako in his bloodstream.

Towards the end, before "she" came into his life, he was busy in his lab so busy, he never realized that he was no longer alone. He started feeling the usual sickness that meant it was time for him to get another fix, this time it seemed like it was going to be really bad. He had not wanted to inject himself so soon, it had been only five hours since his last injection, but there was no reason to the maddening pull of the Mako. " No! "He thought bitterly, "Not now!" "I'm so close to completion!" But there was no ignoring the horrible feelings racing through his body. He thought that if he couldn't get his fix NOW, their wouldn't be a project to finish for him at all. So He did what he had to, what he had been doing for so long. It was done, he fell back into his chair feeling the familiar bliss once the fluid in his veins reached his brain. He never noticed the assistant, Hojo behind

him, who as silently as the rat he resembled, stepped up to confront the professor. "So I see now how you have such intimate knowledge of the Mako" "I have always wondered why you have been so secretive with your research" Hojo smirked. The Professor had always disliked this man, he thought of him as a vile creature who's only interest was in himself. He was young, only around nineteen or so, but brilliant. Brilliant and cold, colder than ice. It was as if the man was empty inside. Worse than that, he seemed to have something evil growing in him. He seemed to get a sadistic joy in the gruesome experiments that caused all the rest of the researchers to feel uncomfortable, sometimes things had to be done in the name of science, that most people would like to pretend were humane, but in reality they knew it was far from the truth. But those very things were what Hojo seemed to thrive on. It helped him get to where he was now, the professor knew. Shin-Ra liked that in an employee. How things had changed since he first began working for Shin-Ra! It all started with the Mako, then the experiments, and who could forget the "Turks" Shin-Ra's new mercenary force of trained assassins. How did it get to all this. They was no one anymore to stop Shin-Ra. Either they were bought off or simply "disappeared" complements of the "Turks" of course. Yes, he thought, Hojo fits perfectly, and now that he knows my "secret" I will become one of those unfortunate experiments. "I know what your thinking, but I wont tell a soul, this can be our secret" Hojo mused. "If, you will just do one little thing for me." "Ive been wanting to get in on the Jenova project you head, maybe you have a need for a new assistant." A look of pure anguish crossed the professors face when he thought about Hojo being on the project. But that was nothing compared to thinking about what would become of him if anyone found out about his little "secret". "O.K, I will put the paper work in tomorrow, just please, please, don't tell anyone what you saw here!" he pleaded. Hojo responded " I will so enjoy working with you" he laughed as he walked out of the lab.

Things continued as normal except for the fact that he had a psychotic lab assistant that wanted to kill and dissect all the subjects. His Idea of research was to see how much Mako a subject's body could handle before sub coming to death, then cutting it open to find out what organs were the most damaged. He also found a liking in trying to splice genes from different subjects and trying to fuse them together with Mako. The lab was turning into a morgue, and the project was having trouble finding new test subjects. In short they were just dying to fast to be replaced. But Hojo was making discoveries. Ones that kept Shin-Ra interested. No one was interested in Mako as fuel anymore, now it was improving humanity, and creating the perfect soldier. That was something that after having experimented on himself, he could not do to anyone else. He decided it was time he left Shin-Ra.

He decided to go back to his family home in Kalm. He had no more family, but they had left him the house. He would go there and live out the rest of his days. Hopefully he could forget about Shinra, and hopefully they will forget about him. Sometimes he worried that late one night he would get a knock on the door only to open it and find some men dressed in blue, waiting to deliver his death to him. Stupid he thought, they wouldn't bother waiting till the middle of the night or knocking! They would just shoot him on the spot. They were "Turks " after all, and known for much worse. He figured they had better things to do and more important people to kill, not some washed up scientist.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2,

A chance at love

He walked to the corner market one morning to get some coffee, that was when he met "her" Her family owned the corner store and she worked the front. She was about 30, her blond hair tied in the back, she was no beauty but her eyes were so compelling, he couldn't stop starring at them. After that first meeting, he seemed to run into her all the time. When he got up enough courage he asked her what her name was. This was not easy for him. He had no experience with women, he had no experience with people at all for that matter. Ever since he could remember all he was interested in was science, which left little room for friends. She seemed to find his quiet, shy personality attractive. After that introduction they seemed to spend much of their free time together. He had never been so happy in his life, she was the only thing he thought about, all the past memories of Shinra, and the lab were forgotten. Eventually he stopped the Mako injections, his health got back to normal. He loved her with all his heart, he wanted to be "right " for her. They talked of marriage, he was concerned that since he was sterile he would never be able to give her the children she seemed to want so bad. She seemed not to care, her only thoughts were being with him. But still it gave him pause. He thought that would be unfair of him, to deprive her of having a family, but he knew from his days at Shinra that he would never have a child of his own. That is why , when he saw her that day he was so suprised. She beamed, he had never seen her look so

happy. She had something she wanted to say and couldn't hold in, even for the moment it took for him to walk through the doorway. "I'm pregnant" "Were having a baby!" He was to shocked to say

anything but "how." She looked at him unable to understand why he

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wasn't as happy as she was. It just didn't make sense. It was a miracle. He should be happy! Instead he just walked out the door with a look of horror on his face.

He walked about a mile before he could begin to make sense of any of his thoughts. Pregnant! How? Someone else? No, must be mine, How? How? Mako? Did the Mako make me fertile? Something he had never thought of before. The Baby- the Mako, No! What will it do to the baby? Abortion, no, he couldn't, she wouldn't . What have I done? What I was so against, human experimentation, now unconsciously contributing to it. What have I done!

He returned to his senses and realized there was nothing he could change now, his only hope was to pray that the baby was born normal, but how could it? Wasn't the Mako the only reason the baby even existed? He needed to continue his research, so he can help the baby, he needed to go back to Shin-Ra, as much as he loathed it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Back to the horror

As he knew they would, they gladly gave him back his former position,complete with his assistant Hojo. Lucky me,he thought to himself. At least the sick man had never told anyone about his "secret". Getting back into the swing of things was not easy for him, since his mind was usually on his wife and the baby inside her. He knew he had to find some answers before the baby arrived. The pregnancy was a hard one, with Veronica suffering from the very beginning. It seemed like she never had any energy or strength, like the fetus somehow robbed it from her. And the more she seemed to deteriorate, the more the baby within seemed to prosper. Around her eighth month she begin to resemble a wraith, her full belly only adding to the nightmarish visage, with swallow pale skin under her limp lifeless hair she looked more dead than alive. It was at this time he decided that it would be best to take the baby now, wait any longer and she would surely be dead. As they prepped the surgery room and assembled the instruments the professor fell deep into his thoughts again.

Ive spent all this time trying to find a way to stop themacho in my child's blood, to try to save her, but what have I found? Nothing to show for the seven months of study, nothing at all. If only I can save Veronica, my love, now wasted away to next to nothingness, a vessel carrying what? A baby? A abomination? Who could tell? The baby seemed in the ultrasounds a normal healthy little girl, but then why did it affect Veronica so? He thought this and a thousand other thoughts like it. He decided He had to act now if he had any chance to save the one he loved.

After preparing Veronica for the upcoming procedure they waited until they were sure she was totally under. They checked her vital signs and those of the the baby's. Time to make cut. One last check to make sure everything was stable, and he began. He was the only one in the room preferring to go about the procedure alone rather that subject his poor wife to Hojo. All went as was planned and he beheld his daughter. She was perfect in every way, even being a month premature, she looked more developed and perfected than a child of two months. She has a shock of black hair, more hair than he could ever recall having ever seen on an infant. She had all her little perfect fingers and toes. But a few things weren't right. Her eyes, when she stared up at him and screamed, were not blue, nor green, and not the usually dull blue of a new born, no, these eyes glowed up at him with an eerie blue green radiance. It reminded him of another glow... The mako. Even though her eyes had a blueish tinge, that glow was unmistakable. While he was busy noticing this in his daughter, what he didn't notice was his wife slowly bleeding to death on the table. He set the baby gently down in the bassinet to turn his attention on his wife. When he saw her bleeding he rushed to stabilize her. His eyes were on her only, he didn't notice the blood that had begun to pool on the floor. His frantic rush to the table ended in him slipping in that very blood to slam his head on the edge of the table and land in a crumbled heap on the floor. . As Veronicas life slowly ended, the machines connected to her beeped with their alarm,The baby let out a final scream.

The first to this horrific scene was Dr. Valentine, a new researcher on the project. Having had a wife who had died bearing his son ten years before what he saw shook in to his very being. He knew what had happened, just hrs ago he had offered the professor his assistance in the surgery knowing how hard it would be for him to do on his own. The professor had refused, so being who he was Dr. Valentine didn't press the issue. He looked upon Veronica on the table and knew there was nothing he could do for her now, he turned his attention briefly on the baby, who was sleeping peacefully in her bassinet, then turned his attention on the professor. He reached down to the unconscious man. He had pulse, it seemed like the blow just knocked him out. He called for help while he tried to help the man wake up. While he was helping the professor into a wheel chair he noticed Hojo come into the room.

He didn't spare a glance at the professor nor poor Veronica, his eyes were only searching for one thing. The baby.


	4. chapter 4

Chapter 4,

Plans for the Future

As Hojo entered the room the only thing on his mind was the baby in the corner. The infant slept peacefully not knowing what had befell her parents, or that the gaze of the evil man rested on her. Dr. Valentine was busy attending to the fallen professor, so Hojo had his chance to scoop up the infant and bring her to his lab. At his cold touch she woke up. Hojo was mesmerized by the bright glow of her eyes. He quickly pulled out a syringe and pricked it into the baby's foot, drawing a shiny bead of blood. He quickly captured it on a slide and had the chance to hid it in his desk before Dr. Valentine came in to take her away . " I'm taking her to the nursery till Dr. Monet wakes up" said Dr. Valentine. "Sure, I just took her here to get her out of the way, She will be better taken care of there, I have things to do and don't have the time for crying brats" his voice showed no sign of any emotion, his eyes had a cold, hard stare as he looked at the now screaming child. Dr Valentine scooped up the screaming child and left the lab.

After running some tests on the tiny sample of blood he had pro quired, Hojo thought to himself he would need more blood, a lot more to test. He had enough blood for the most important test which came back just how Hojo had hoped. "Yes, yes, just what I expected, it seems like the mako has in fact transferred into her!" All his previous experimentation had never produced a live specimen, his projects always seeming to prematurely "expire". That might have something to do with his impatience, always injecting too much mako in his attempt to be the first to create the "ultimate life form" for Shin-Ra. Sure, she was just a newborn now, but in the future she would be a goldmine for his research! Once she reached maturity she would be bred to create the most powerful of creatures. She was the key. With her genetics and mako infused cells, anything was possible. The problem was waiting for her to mature. "Damn!" he cursed under his breath, thinking it would be at least 14 years of waiting, 16 if he wanted to be on the safe side, He didn't want to wait that long. I must be patient, he thought to himself, if I rush now everything will be ruined, somehow I need to wait, no matter how hard it may be, nothing could stand in his way! Nothing except time, and her father, but he could be dealt with easily, more so now that his beloved Veronica was gone. That new scientist, Valentine, may become a bit of a problem too, but enough for now, he decided that he would be able to rid himself of these loose ends soon enough.

Till she was old enough to breed, He would occupy himself with his other experiments, like the "Materia project" He was on the verge of discovering how to fuse materia into human bodies, something never before done. Before now materia had been only used to enhance weapons, and by mages to summon minions from the other planes, but he saw more possibilities in the rare glowing orbs. Something between human and demon, able to transform at anytime into a merciless creature who's only want is to spill as much blood as possible. He wanted to create death itself, then he would be its master.

No one knew he had obtained the summon materia, He himself didn't even know its full ability. He tried once to summon the creature within the orb. That was an experience he would never forget! He used one of the protesters the Turks had imprisoned, that is where most of his subjects came from. Fools, as if anyone could stand up to Shin-Ra, but there were always fools daring to try, once they were imprisoned no one heard from them again, ever. But they never learned. They kept coming.

He summoned the creature by using the mana from his captive. The horrible thing called forth had nearly tore his head off. All he could remember in his confusion and fear, was a beast with skin a vile shade of rotten purple. Like something that had died and was left to rot. If the prisoner would have held out a little longer, Hojo would have been torn to shreds by the creatures razor sharp claws, but summoning the creature and the manna it consumed proved to be to much for the unlucky prisoner. His heart gave out seconds after the creature appeared. But instead of being grateful to the poor man for his weakness, Hojo cursed and spat at the cadaver. He threw his anger at the dead man, kicking him and punching him while screaming like a lunatic "You weak piece of shit, How dare you die, you were not supposed to die, not until I wanted you dead!" he continued to beat the dead body until his hands were bloody and the dead man's face was nothing more than bloody pulp. So strong was Hojo's anger.

Next time he would use a stronger specimen, yes, next time it would be different, he would take his time in selecting the perfect host for his precious orb. Someone strong, someone ruthless, in perfect physical shape. While he was busy thinking of the possibilities, he was interrupted by a young man in a dark blue suit, one of the "Turks" he couldn't remember the man's name, it didn't matter to him anyway, after all the turks were there to do his bidding, nothing more than brainless guns for Shin-Ra, a source for specimens, nothing more. " Ah, excuse me sir" mumbled the Turk clearly uncomfortable by being so near Hojo. "But you asked to be informed when Professor Monet woke up." "What?" Hojo asked, it was obvious he was lost in his own thoughts. " Ah... Professor Monet has.." started the Turk. "Yes, Yes, thank you that is all I require" Hojo cut the man off. As Hojo watched the Turk nervously fumble with the door knob in his haste to get away, a thought came to him. A Turk? A Turk would be perfect for the experiment. Strong, ruthless, in perfect shape, now that would be a specimen that would last, didn't a Turk have to be the best even before being considered by Shin-Ra? And then with the 6 month training, 90 of the candidates never made it, they didn't give up and drop out. No, if they were not strong enough to handle the stress of the training they were killed by it. No turning back once you decide to go down that street. Perfect! Hojo thought, impressed by his own ingenuity, now to get to work, so much to be done. So intent on his new line of thoughts he almost forgot professor Monet, a minor detail.


End file.
